12 January 2012

15 Minutes to a Sparkling Fridge

Next to the shower and oven, cleaning the fridge is the most detested household job. It is put off and put off, until it just can't be put off any longer.

So you've decided to clean the refrigerator; you’ve put it off long enough! Here are some simple steps to cleaning the refrigerator shelf by shelf to hurry along the process.

Step 1. Take everything out of one area, shelf or door at a time.

Step 2. Look at everything you've taken out. Put any out of date or obviously spoiled food in either the compost or the garbage bin.

Step 3. Wash and dry any containers you've emptied and put them away.

Step 4. Take out the shelf, rack or drawer and wash it in hot, soapy water. A word of warning: if your fridge has glass shelves, don't put them straight into very hot water. They will be extremely cold and the sudden change in temperature could cause them to crack or even worse, break.

Step 5. Use a damp cloth to wipe over the inside of the fridge. Dry with a clean tea-towel.

Step 6. Replace the shelf or drawer and re-stock if necessary. Line the bottom of the veggie bins with a folded tea towel to absorb any moisture. Some people use paper towel but as I don't have paper towel in the house I use a tea towel. It's easy to change each week and put in the wash.

Step 7. Put an opened, small box or container of bicarb soda at the back of the fridge. The bicarb will absorb odours. Replace it every three months, but don't toss it. Use the bicarb to clean your drains.

Step 8. Wipe over the outside of the fridge.

And you are done! Just 15 minutes and working one shelf or area at a time makes cleaning the fridge easy. If something happens and you get called away, you don't need to just stuff everything back, you only have one shelf out. Unless it's a dire emergency you can either quickly finish off or close the fridge and come back to it later.

4 comments:

I have just found your blogs and look forward to reading more. We are debt free but soon to take on a mortgage after 13years without one so I'm hoping to gather some tips here and some inspiration too.

Doing it in separate steps seems obvious but how many of us actually do it?! I think we all need to read it to actually remind ourselves to do it. I am going to use this technique to clean my fridge this afternoon. I always put off cleaning out the fridge because it seems like too huge a job. I like the idea of being able to be interrupted yet still get the job done. With two toddlers I am interrupted with every job I start! Thanks for the tips.

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Welcome!

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This is my record of the daily challenges the Armstrong family faces as we live life the Cheapskates way - debt free, cashed up and laughing - and try to stay that way.

Here I talk about the little things I do that save us a lot of money and the bigger things that may only save a small amount. I share the things that work for us and the things that don't. I say it as I see it, so if I try something and think it's a dud, I'll tell you. And if I try something and it works, I'll share it with you.

You'll get an insight into a very frugal family living a very comfortable 21st Century lifestyle and I hope it encourages and inspires you as you make your journey to living life the Cheapskates way.